Top 10: Things that will make Street Fighter 4 great

We figure out what we want from Capcom's next entry in the Street Fighter series.

Capcom promised a megaton announcement and boy did they deliver: Street Fighter 4 is in development. Immediately forums across the web lit up with excitement. But the world is starved of information at this point. All we have to go on is a stunning two-minute trailer and word that the game won't be out for more than a year. We don't even know what platforms the game will be out on. And the question on everybody's lips is what will Street Fighter 4 be like? Here, Pro-G details its own Top 10 things that will make Street Fighter 4 great. Read on, get excited and start practising those Hadoukens.

10. Give it the promotion it deserves. Irrespective of how the game turns out, Street Fighter 4 needs a decent marketing budget to help drag the series back into the mainstream - as it was in the early 90s. SF games have fallen off the radar somewhat, especially after the peak with Street Fighter 2 on the SNES and Mega Drive. (Although a loyal and vociferous community has kept the games alive in tournaments and through online enabled ports). But now is the time for Street Fighter to reclaim its rightful position at the top of the beat-em-up pile, and the top of the charts. I want to see adverts on TV, before blockbusters in cinemas, in posters on bus stops, on the side of buses, on billboards - I want the whole world to know SF4 is coming. Time to splash the cash.

9. It be good enough not to spawn 20 spin offs. It's hard being a SF fan, simply because there's so many versions of the same game to keep up with. SF2 Hyper Alpha Ex + Omega 20th Strike Hyper Super Fighting Champion World Warrior with bells on top. Enough. Let SF4 be complete enough not to spawn another 15 updates of the game.

8. Release an arcade stick to coincide with the release. Admit it - d-pads suck balls for beat-em-ups. Don't agree? Then you suck. Everyone knows you can't be a serious SF player if you don't play with an arcade stick. All the cool kids do it. All the pros bring their own along to big bucks tournaments. If Capcom releases a special edition SF4 arcade stick, perhaps even bundled with the game for a few extra quid, that will take us SF fanatics to heaven. Anything but the awful 360 d-pad.

7. Release an arcade version first. This is Street Fighter tradition. It's all about honing your skills in the arcade, where there's a crowd on your back, the pressure's on and you can't disconnect if you lose. Then bring those skills to the consoles and make a reputation for yourself online. Make it happen Capcom - it's the way it's meant to be.

6. Let a Japanese development team that is known for making great fighting games take the reins. This is in no way a slight to US or UK developers, or any other development communities for that matter, but SF4 will have the greatest chance of being great if a Japanese dev with fighting experience makes it. Street Fighter 4 is a long time coming and has a lot to live up to. Does the stylised trailer suggest developers from the now disbanded Clover Studio, who were responsible for Okami, Viewtiful Joe and God Hand, might be involved? Could SF4 be Platinum Games' first project? Keep it in the Land of the Rising Sun Capcom.

5. Keep the character roster down. We're not fans of 50 character beat-em-ups. That's just too many to take in, you'll never master them all and it just dilutes all the character designs. Better to focus on less than half that number, making every character as memorable as the next, full of depth and perfectly balanced. We'd like some of the classic SFII characters to make a return of course, with new graphical and gameplay overhauls (and perhaps a touch of grey in the hair), but we'd also like some new, amazingly cool characters to experiment and fall in love with. PS. Bring back Guile.

4. Lag free online play. When Street Fighter 2 Hyper Fighting was released on XBL, it promised online play. In theory, this was the most important thing to happen to the SF series since the release of SF2 in the arcade. But it was let down by awful lag which meant the split second timing that is essential for advanced play was impossible to achieve. Improvements have been made, but what we all want for SF4 is as close to completely lag free online play as possible. The recent delay of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix on XBL and PSN to 2008 is because the development team is trying to get lag down to a minimum. If they can achieve that, then it bodes well for SF4.

3. Make the graphics amazing. The jury's still out on the SF4 trailer - some love its gritty, more adult style, others aren't so sure it will work, fearing it as evidence that SF4 will be a 3D beat-em-up. At this point it's all speculation anyway - we have no idea if the trailer gives us an indication of the art direction Capcom will take with the game. But if the trailer does suggest the look of the game, with more impactful attacks and black smoke effects, we'd be cool with that - it's an excellent trailer. Oh, and Capcom, I'm sure you'll do this anyway, but 60fps, silky smooth animation and widescreen needs to be there. One thing's for sure, SF4's graphics need to be the best ever for a 2D fighter, if that is indeed what it turns out to be. Okami Fighter 4? Let's rock.

2. Make the gameplay competitive enough to be picked up by the pros. One of the reasons why the original Street Fighter II, its XBL port and other versions continue to be so successful so many years after release is because of the support the game has received from its loyal community. If the pros pick it up, approve of it and take it on in tournaments, we'll be happy. For this to happen it has to be a competitive game. At the end of the day deep gameplay is more important than flashy graphics. We want a simple combat system with enough strategic complexity to please the pros.

1. Don't make it 3D. This is probably the biggest sticking point among fans of the series. Some want to stick with pure 2D fighting, because, they say, that's what makes SF special, while others want a 3D game, bringing a modern overhaul to the series and as a result giving the game a higher chance of becoming a mainstream hit. Well, we're not paid to sit on the fence so... we don't want full 3D. We don't want SF4 to take on the likes of Tekken, Virtua Fighter and Soul Calibur. Let them fight it out in 3D between themselves. While we agree that SF does not need to remain sprite-based forever, and that Capcom may well have to spice things up a bit, this being a completely new game in the series coupled with the added pressure to succeed in the modern videogame market these days, but it's essential that the game plays like classic 2D SF, even if it doesn't look like it. Hell, we'll take a hybrid if we have to, a 2.5D beat-em-up if you will, with 3D graphics but 2D game mechanics. What's important is that the game plays like Street Fighter and looks gorgeous. Over to you Capcom.

What would you like to see in Street Fighter 4? Let us know in the comments section below.

12 Comments

User Comments

r3ko

Quote:

10. Give it the promotion it deserves. Irrespective of how the game turns out, Street Fighter 4 needs a decent marketing budget to help drag the series back into the mainstream - as it was in the early 90s. SF games have fallen off the radar somewhat, especially after the peak with Street Fighter 2 on the SNES and Mega Drive. (Although a loyal and vociferous community has kept the games alive in tournaments and through online enabled ports). But now is the time for Street Fighter to reclaim its rightful position at the top of the beat-em-up pile, and the top of the charts. I want to see adverts on TV, before blockbusters in cinemas, in posters on bus stops, on the side of buses, on billboards - I want the whole world to know SF4 is coming. Time to splash the cash.

No Arguments there.
Quote:

9. It be good enough not to spawn 20 spin offs. It's hard being a SF fan, simply because there's so many versions of the same game to keep up with. SF2 Hyper Alpha Ex + Omega 20th Strike Hyper Super Fighting Champion World Warrior with bells on top. Enough. Let SF4 be complete enough not to spawn another 15 updates of the game.

I dunno why people like this guy get so upset with this. SF2WW spawned 4 rehashes. CE fixed alot of the gameplay issues and let us use boss characters. HF was made to combat all the hack jobs. SSF2 was made on a new system, and is effectively a rush job, should have been what ST was. Either way all individually are great games. People kept playing them back in the day, so what was the problem?

Then the Alpha series, about only thing A1, A2 and A3 have common is that they use the same artwork and have Alpha in the title.

Not even gonna mention SF3.

Quote:

8. Release an arcade stick to coincide with the release. Admit it - d-pads suck balls for beat-em-ups. Don't agree? Then you suck. Everyone knows you can't be a serious SF player if you don't play with an arcade stick. All the cool kids do it. All the pros bring their own along to big bucks tournaments. If Capcom releases a special edition SF4 arcade stick, perhaps even bundled with the game for a few extra quid, that will take us SF fanatics to heaven. Anything but the awful 360 d-pad.

Thats cool, but its got to be well made, and outsourced to someone like Hori, that anniversary stick was nice to look at, but that was about it. Something that is actually playable would be nice.

Quote:

7. Release an arcade version first. This is Street Fighter tradition. It's all about honing your skills in the arcade, where there's a crowd on your back, the pressure's on and you can't disconnect if you lose. Then bring those skills to the consoles and make a reputation for yourself online. Make it happen Capcom - it's the way it's meant to be.

Tradition no longer applies. Honestly don't know if it worth it. I doubt thousands of people will come screaming back to arcades just to play SF4, at which credits will probably be expensive. Plus theres not too many arcades around anymore anyway. Straight to console with a good online system is where the money will be at least in the western world.

Quote:

6. Let a Japanese development team that is known for making great fighting games take the reins. This is in no way a slight to US or UK developers, or any other development communities for that matter, but SF4 will have the greatest chance of being great if a Japanese dev with fighting experience makes it. Street Fighter 4 is a long time coming and has a lot to live up to. Does the stylised trailer suggest developers from the now disbanded Clover Studio, who were responsible for Okami, Viewtiful Joe and God Hand, might be involved? Could SF4 be Platinum Games' first project? Keep it in the Land of the Rising Sun Capcom.

Capcom of Japan are making the game, nuff said. I dunno where people get this impression Capcom USA is making SF4.

Quote:

5. Keep the character roster down. We're not fans of 50 character beat-em-ups. That's just too many to take in, you'll never master them all and it just dilutes all the character designs. Better to focus on less than half that number, making every character as memorable as the next, full of depth and perfectly balanced. We'd like some of the classic SFII characters to make a return of course, with new graphical and gameplay overhauls (and perhaps a touch of grey in the hair), but we'd also like some new, amazingly cool characters to experiment and fall in love with. PS. Bring back Guile.

If theres too few characters, then casual gamers will think it lacks variety and replayability, which is where the money is. SF4 will need at least 20 characters in this case.

Quote:

4. Lag free online play. When Street Fighter 2 Hyper Fighting was released on XBL, it promised online play. In theory, this was the most important thing to happen to the SF series since the release of SF2 in the arcade. But it was let down by awful lag which meant the split second timing that is essential for advanced play was impossible to achieve. Improvements have been made, but what we all want for SF4 is as close to completely lag free online play as possible. The recent delay of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix on XBL and PSN to 2008 is because the development team is trying to get lag down to a minimum. If they can achieve that, then it bodes well for SF4.

First he wants arcade release and online play at the same time.... LOL, ok...
Quote:

3. Make the graphics amazing. The jury's still out on the SF4 trailer - some love its gritty, more adult style, others aren't so sure it will work, fearing it as evidence that SF4 will be a 3D beat-em-up. At this point it's all speculation anyway - we have no idea if the trailer gives us an indication of the art direction Capcom will take with the game. But if the trailer does suggest the look of the game, with more impactful attacks and black smoke effects, we'd be cool with that - it's an excellent trailer. Oh, and Capcom, I'm sure you'll do this anyway, but 60fps, silky smooth animation and widescreen needs to be there. One thing's for sure, SF4's graphics need to be the best ever for a 2D fighter, if that is indeed what it turns out to be. Okami Fighter 4? Let's rock.

Since when this guy speak on behalf of game players. No doubt the graphics will be good, but if thats all that is important then I think hes lost the plot.

Quote:

2. Make the gameplay competitive enough to be picked up by the pros. One of the reasons why the original Street Fighter II, its XBL port and other versions continue to be so successful so many years after release is because of the support the game has received from its loyal community. If the pros pick it up, approve of it and take it on in tournaments, we'll be happy. For this to happen it has to be a competitive game. At the end of the day deep gameplay is more important than flashy graphics. We want a simple combat system with enough strategic complexity to please the pros.

Hes got it the wrong way round. It needs to be appealing enough to casual gamers so there is a big player base, not just recycling the same people who played previous SF games over and over.

Quote:

1. Don't make it 3D. This is probably the biggest sticking point among fans of the series. Some want to stick with pure 2D fighting, because, they say, that's what makes SF special, while others want a 3D game, bringing a modern overhaul to the series and as a result giving the game a higher chance of becoming a mainstream hit. Well, we're not paid to sit on the fence so... we don't want full 3D. We don't want SF4 to take on the likes of Tekken, Virtua Fighter and Soul Calibur. Let them fight it out in 3D between themselves. While we agree that SF does not need to remain sprite-based forever, and that Capcom may well have to spice things up a bit, this being a completely new game in the series coupled with the added pressure to succeed in the modern videogame market these days, but it's essential that the game plays like classic 2D SF, even if it doesn't look like it. Hell, we'll take a hybrid if we have to, a 2.5D beat-em-up if you will, with 3D graphics but 2D game mechanics. What's important is that the game plays like Street Fighter and looks gorgeous. Over to you Capcom.

Why does everyone get 2.5D confused like this guy. 2.5D means using 2D graphics to make things look like 3D. I would think people would honestly not care if the game was 3D, but still played like traditional 2D fighters.

In short you don't really know what your talking about do you. You claim to be a SF player, but have you been participating with the SF community in the UK, i think not.

crazy larry

breathe3d

3D is the only way.. Ive been a fan of this game for 20 years since it was in the arcade. I think if it becomes a 3d fighter with a visual edge over the other 3d fight games and some new elements of attraction, this game will not only get gaming reviews of 10 but be one of the best games ever made. And whoever wrote the article.. If you like 2d so much then just keep playing the old version

Hellweaver666

Personally, I think they can make 3d and 2d players happy and here's how:

1) Make the graphics 3d (it's inevitable really).

2) Give the users the choice of two play style options (a bit like in puzzle fighter). Style 1 is new fangled 3D play, Style 2 is the same game with the same moves, but with the camera and characters movement locked into a 2D plane.

Anonyindksms

Sorry i disagree with the no 3d.......it would be suicide to bring it out in 2D, think about it, Mortal Kombat made the jump to 3d with 4, it sucked, SF made a 3d fighting game, that sucked but MK did it with Deadly Alliance and everyone has been calling it the best MK game (at the time of course), with the right working a 3d SF game can be great to play and wonderful to look at.

PLUS- Making a new arcade game seems abit.........bizzare? In this day and age no one is gonna play an arcade game when they can just buy the actual game, yes, some companies make Arcade games but they are made with really complex coding so another reason why it cant be 3d is that it'll be abit easy to hack and make into a ROM......like all the other Street Fighters.

Another thing before i leave this topic.......is the writer of the article (Wesley Yin-Poole) a fighter fan? If so, you getting ready for VF5?

I am indeed a fighter fan - I play most of them, from Street Fighter to Tekken to Soul Calibur to Virtua Fighter. I'm really excited about the prospect of playing VF5 online on the 360 - hopefully lag won't ruin it.

Regarding your points on SF4 - the 3D VS 2D thing has really divided the fanbase down the middle, but for me personally, as I said, I'd love to see maybe a 2.5D game but with 2D gameplay. For me, what I love about SF is that it is a 2D fighter. I hope they don't go completely 3D.

Re the arcade point - I'm talking about bringing it our in arcades first, to get the pros interested and to give SF fans who have been waiting for this game for years, I'm talking about the ones who played SF2 in the arcades back in the day, like me, the opportunity to rekindle some of that magic they experienced back in the early 90s. And then bring it out on console.

Sorry i disagree with the no 3d.......it would be suicide to bring it out in 2D, think about it, Mortal Kombat made the jump to 3d with 4, it sucked, SF made a 3d fighting game, that sucked but MK did it with Deadly Alliance and everyone has been calling it the best MK game (at the time of course), with the right working a 3d SF game can be great to play and wonderful to look at.

PLUS- Making a new arcade game seems abit.........bizzare? In this day and age no one is gonna play an arcade game when they can just buy the actual game, yes, some companies make Arcade games but they are made with really complex coding so another reason why it cant be 3d is that it'll be abit easy to hack and make into a ROM......like all the other Street Fighters.

Another thing before i leave this topic.......is the writer of the article (Wesley Yin-Poole) a fighter fan? If so, you getting ready for VF5?

matte

DoneDoneiL

The mechanics better stay 2D or I'm gonna sulk. Obvioulsy that kind of threat will make Capcom think twice.

I went to a houseparty the other night and they had three old SF arcade cabinets in a row in the living room. I got all excited and asked the guy who lived there all about them and he said 'I don't know - nobody that lives here likes videogames - someone's dad left them here' Ungrateful, undeserving S***ta* G*nad*!